Professional Documents
Culture Documents
TableofContents
DistrictBuilderOverview...............................................................................................................................4
WhatisDistrictBuilder?............................................................................................................................4
WhoWeAre..............................................................................................................................................4
WelcometotheDistrictBuilderUserGuide.............................................................................................5
QuickStartGuide......................................................................................................................................5
LoggingIn..................................................................................................................................................7
CreatingaUserAccount...........................................................................................................................7
MaximumNumberofLoggedInUsers.................................................................................................7
GuestUsers...........................................................................................................................................8
ThePlanStep................................................................................................................................................9
Step1:SelectLegislativeBody/Layer.....................................................................................................10
LayerType1:LegislativeBodies.........................................................................................................10
LayerType2:CommunityMaps.........................................................................................................10
Step2:SelectPlanType..........................................................................................................................11
UploadaPlan......................................................................................................................................12
UploadPlanRequirements.................................................................................................................13
Howtouploadaplan..........................................................................................................................13
DownloadPlan....................................................................................................................................14
Step3:SelectPlan...................................................................................................................................15
NavigatingListsofAvailablePlans......................................................................................................16
DeletingPlans.....................................................................................................................................16
Step4:NameaNewPlan/StartDrawing................................................................................................16
EditPlanDescription...........................................................................................................................17
TheDrawStep.............................................................................................................................................18
MapLegend............................................................................................................................................19
MapLayers..............................................................................................................................................20
ShadingUnderlyingEditableGeography............................................................................................20
ShadingDistricts..................................................................................................................................21
ShowReferenceLayers.......................................................................................................................22
ZoomandPanTools................................................................................................................................25
PanTool..............................................................................................................................................25
ZoomTools..........................................................................................................................................25
MarquisZoomTool.............................................................................................................................26
MapTransparency..................................................................................................................................26
MapToolSets.........................................................................................................................................27
MapEditingToolSet...........................................................................................................................28
CreateaNewDistrict..............................................................................................................................32
DistrictToolsSet.....................................................................................................................................33
LockDistrictTool.................................................................................................................................33
DistrictInfoTool..................................................................................................................................33
UnassignDistrictTool.........................................................................................................................33
DistrictCopyandPasteTool...............................................................................................................34
IdentifyingSplitGeographies..................................................................................................................36
ShowSplits..........................................................................................................................................36
GenerateSplitsReport........................................................................................................................36
SelectReferenceLayerforReport(Default).......................................................................................37
DistrictBuilderUserGuide,v1.4
13May2012
ReverseSplitsDetectionandExtendedReport(Optional).................................................................37
GenerateaSplitsReport.....................................................................................................................37
CloseSplitsReportPopupWindow....................................................................................................37
PlanStatistics..............................................................................................................................................39
TheStatisticsPane..................................................................................................................................39
HidingtheStatisticsPane....................................................................................................................40
PlanStatistics......................................................................................................................................40
DistrictStatistics..................................................................................................................................41
HighlightDistricts................................................................................................................................42
AvailableStatistics..............................................................................................................................42
StatisticsEditor.......................................................................................................................................43
CreateNewStatisticsSet....................................................................................................................43
EditStatisticsSet.................................................................................................................................44
DeleteStatisticsSet............................................................................................................................44
CommunityMaps........................................................................................................................................45
DrawingaCommunity............................................................................................................................45
CommunityStatistics..............................................................................................................................47
CommunityList...................................................................................................................................47
DisplayingCommunityStatistics.........................................................................................................48
TheEvaluateStep.......................................................................................................................................49
SelectingStatisticsforReporting............................................................................................................50
GeneratingaReport................................................................................................................................51
CompletedReport...................................................................................................................................51
TheShareStep............................................................................................................................................53
SharingPlans...........................................................................................................................................54
ActionsThatCanBeTakenwithSharedPlans........................................................................................54
PlanExport..............................................................................................................................................54
VerifyandPostPlanstoLeaderboards...................................................................................................55
PlanVerification......................................................................................................................................55
Leaderboards..........................................................................................................................................56
TopRankedUsers'Plans.........................................................................................................................58
MyRankedPlans.....................................................................................................................................58
DistrictBuilderUserGuide,v1.4
13May2012
DistrictBuilderOverview
WhatisDistrictBuilder?
DistrictBuilderempowerspeopletodrawthroughtheirwebbrowserscompletelegalredistrictingplans,
singledistricts,andmapsoftheircommunities.Theapplication'ssocialnetworkingfeaturesenable
crowdsourcingsothatpeoplecanshareandcollaborateontheirwork.Customizedreportingfunctions
combinedwithleaderboardsshowwhichredistrictingplansare,forexample,themostcompactor
politicallyfair.Theresultingmapscanbeexportedinpdfandinaformatcommonlyusedbyother
redistrictingsoftwaresothataredistrictingauthoritymayconsiderthem.Thesoftwareisdesignedtobe
functionalatthecensusblocklevelthesmallestgeographicunitforredistrictingenablingusersto
drawredistrictingplansthatstrictlyfollowcomplexlegalcriteria.
DistrictBuilderisopensource,meaningthatanyonewithsufficienttechnicalskillscaninstallthe
softwareonawebserverforfree.OnceanadministratorinstallsDistrictBuilder,othersmaycreateuser
accountstodrawplans.Thisishowmostpeopletypicallyinteractwiththesoftware.Anyonecanview
publiclysharedplansasananonymoususer.ThesourcecodeforDistrictBuilderandotherresourcesare
availableat:http://www.districtbuilder.org/.
WhoWeAre
ThePrincipalInvestigatorsofDistrictBuilderareDr.MicahAltmanattheMassachusettsInstituteof
TechnologyandMichaelMcDonaldatGeorgeMasonUniversity.BotharenonresidentSeniorFellows
attheBrookingsInstitution.
SoftwaredevelopmentforDistrictBuilderisprimarilyconductedbyAzavea,ageospatialsoftwaredesign
anddevelopmentfirm.Allcapableprogrammersarewelcometocontributetothesourcecode.
SupportforDistrictBuildersoftwaredevelopmenthasbeenprovidedbytheSloanFoundation,theJoyce
Foundation,TheJudyFordWasonCenterforPublicPolicyatChristopherNewportUniversity,Amazon
WebServicesandAzavea.
DistrictBuilderUserGuide,v1.4
13May2012
WelcometotheDistrictBuilderUserGuide.
Oncearegistereduserhasloggedintoacreatedaccount,therearefourprimarytasksthatcanbe
accomplishedusingDistrictBuilder.
Shortdescriptionsofthesetasksarevisibleintheabovegraphic:Plan,Draw,Evaluate,andShare.
Thearrowsareintendedtosuggestaworkflow:
1. FirstselectaPlantodraw.
2. ThenDrawthedistrictsoracommunitymap.
3. ThenEvaluatethework.
4. FinallySharetheworkwithothers.
RegistereduserscanaccessallofDistrictBuilder'sfunctionality.Anonymousguestusersmayselect
redistrictingplansorcommunitymaps,viewmapsthroughadrawinginterfacewithlimited
functionality,evaluatemaps,andviewLeaderboards,butcannotdrawmaps.
QuickStartGuide
Somepeopleliketodiverightinandexploreaprogram.Forthosewhowanttogetstartedrightaway,
followthesestepstolaunchamappingsession.
DistrictBuilderisdesignedtobeasintuitiveaspossible,butdrawinglegalredistrictingplansis
complicated.DistrictBuilderworksatthelowestlevelofgeographypossible,whatareknownascensus
blocks.Typicallegalredistrictingplansmustbedrawnusingcensusblocks.DistrictBuilderprovidesa
wealthoffeaturesandstatisticsthatallowuserstoevaluatehowtheirplanssatisfylegalrequirements.
Whilethesefeaturesmayseemdauntingtonovices,theyarenecessarytodrawlegalredistrictingplans.
DistrictBuilderisdesignedspecificallyforredistrictingandisnotafullyfunctionalgeographic
informationsystemprogram.Administratorsconfiguremuchofthesoftwarebehindthescenessothat
userscanspendmoreoftheirtimemapping.Tostartmapping:
1. Createauseraccountandlogin
2. SelectaplanamongthevisibleTemplateplans(perhapsthecurrentcongressionalplanfor
now,stayawayfromablankmap).
3. Givetheplananame.
4. Press"StartDrawing".
5. Amapwillbepresentedtoedit.
6. Underthe"MapEditingTools"atthetopofthepage,clickthe"SingleSelect"icon.
7. Leftclickonaunitofgeography.Itwillbehighlighted,whichindicatesithasbeenselected.
8. Underthe"MapEditingTools"atthetopofthepage,clickthe"ClickandDrag"icon.
9. Movethemouseovertheselectedgeographyandthepointerarrowchangestoafourpointed
arrow.Leftclickonthegeographyandaclosedhandwillappear.Theselectioncannowbe
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"dragged"ontoadifferentdistrictthanitiscurrentlyassignedto.Whenthemousebuttonis
releasedthegeographywillbeassignedtothenewdistrictandthestatisticsontherighthand
sideofthescreenwillbeupdated.
10. Someadditionalquicktips:
a) Zoomintoseesmallergeographiestoedit.
b) Districtsareinitiallycolorcodedbyhowtheirpopulationdeviatesfromtheidealequal
populousdistrict.Districtsthatareoverpopulatedareshadedyellow.Districtsthatare
underpopulatedareshadedblue.Districtsthatarewithinatolerancerangearenot
shaded.Theunderlyinggeographiesareinitiallycolorcodedbytheirpopulation,with
morepopulousgeographiesshadedadarkercolor.Oneofthemappinggoalsisforall
thedistrictstobeunshaded.DistrictshadingscanbeconfiguredinSetMapLayers.
c) TheDistrictToolstabhasausefulLockDistrictsfeaturethatpreventschangestoa
district.Thereareundo/redobuttonsatthetopright.
d) Oncefamiliarwiththesoftware,considerevaluatingtheplanandsharingitwithothers.
DistrictBuilderUserGuide,v1.4
13May2012
LoggingIn
DistrictBuildersupportsthreetypesofusers:
1. Thosewhowanttocreatemaps
2. Thosewhosimplywanttoviewothers'maps
3. Thosewhohaveadministrativeprivilegestomanagethewebsite.
Tip:Onlyregistereduserscandrawmaps.
CreatingaUserAccount
Ifthewebsiteadministratorshaveenabledopenaccesstothesoftware,thesestepswillestablishan
account.Iftheadministratorshavenotenabledopenaccess,theymayrequireprospectiveusersto
requestanaccounttobecreated.
1. Fromthemainpage,clickon"SignUp".
2. Createausernameandpassword.Passwordsmustbe8ormorecharacters,andincludea
number,acapitalletter,andalowercaseletter.
3. DistrictBuilderasksforadditionaloptionalinformationemail,name,andaffiliated
organizationtohelpusersrecoverlostpasswordsandforadministratorstotrackwhoisusing
thesoftware.ThelatterisimportantsinceDistrictBuilderisfundedentirelybycharitable
foundationsthatliketoknowtheperformanceoftheirsupportedprojects.
4. Clickthecheckboxtoacknowledgeagreementwiththeprivacyandtermsofusepolicies.Click
thelinktoviewthesepolicies.
5. Click"SignUp"andanaccountwillbecreatedforanyuniqueusernameandvalidpassword.
6. Onceanaccountiscreated,newusersaredirectedtotheStep1.Plantab.
MaximumNumberofLoggedInUsers
Mapdrawingiscomputationallyintensiveandplacesdemandsonthewebserver.Toensurethatusers
haveagoodexperiencewhiletheyaremapping,DistrictBuilderlimitsthenumberofusersthatcandraw
mapsatanytime.Ifthelimitisexceeded,userswithaccountswhotrytologinreceiveamessageasking
topleasetrylogginginlater.
IfauserisinactiveforaperiodoftimeDistrictBuilderwillautomaticallylogtheuserout.Thegrace
periodforinactivityis15minutesbydefaultbutadministratorsmaychangethisgraceperiod.
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GuestUsers
Forthosewhodonotwishtocreateanaccount,mapsthathavebeensharedbyusersmaybeviewed
andevaluatedbyanonymousGuestusers.Guestuserscannoteditmaps,butcanexplorethem.Anyone
canpastetheURLofaviewablesharedmapintoablogpostorwebsitetodirectothersaccessitasa
Guestuser.
Thereisnomaximumlimitonthenumberofanonymoususers.ToviewplansasaGuestoranonymous
user:
1. Accessasharedmapdirectlyviaalinktotheplan'sURL.
OR
1. Clickthe"EnterasGuest"button.
2. GuestusersarethendirectedtotheStep1.PlanpageandusethePlantabtoselectamapto
view.
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ThePlanStep
Uponlogginginasaregistereduserorasaguest,usersviewthePlantab.Thisareaofthewebsiteisfor
managingtheredistrictingandcommunityplansavailabletoedit(ifloggedinwithanaccount)orview
(ifvisitingasaguest).
Intheredistrictingworld,aplanisacompletesetofdistrictsforastateorlocality.Registeredusersare
notrequiredtocreateacompleteplanforallthedistricts.Forexample,aplancouldhaveonlyasingle
districtsothatanadvocatecanpresentitasasuggestiontoaredistrictingauthority.DistrictBuilder
treatsallpartialorcompleteplansthesame.Registereduserscanalsocreateacommunitymap,which
sharesseveralcharacteristicswithplansandhasadditionalspecialtaggingfeatures.Itispossibleto
overlayanyplanorcommunitymappubliclysharedbyanotherorprivatetoaregistereduserovera
mapthatisbeingedited.
Aplanmustbeselectedtoeditbeforemappingcanbegin.ThePlantabhasfournumberedstepsthat
selectamapfordrawing.
1. SelectDistrictLayer
2. SelectPlanType
3. SelectPlan
4. Nametheplan
Thesefourstepsaredescribedindetail,below.
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13May2012
Step1:SelectLegislativeBody/Layer
Therearetwotypesoflayersthatcanbedrawn:
LegislativeBodiesandCommunities.Often,more
thanonelegislativebodywillbeavailabletodraw.
LayerType1:LegislativeBodies
Thewebsiteadministratorconfiguresormorelegislativebodiestodrawdistrictsfor.Foratypicalstate,
thefollowinglegislativebodieswillbeavailable.
Congressionaldistricts
Statelegislature,upperchamberdistricts
Statelegislature,lowerchamberdistricts
Ifconfiguredforlocalredistricting,countysupervisor,citycouncil,orschooldistrictsmaybe
available.
Administratorsmaymakeotherlegislativebodiesavailableforediting.Administratorsconfigure
statisticsforlegislativebodiessothatuserscanstartmappingquicklywithouthavingtoconfigure
parametersforeachlegislativechambers'districts,suchastheidealpopulationsizeforthedistrictsand
thetargetnumberofminorityopportunitydistricts.Onlyadministratorshavetheabilitytochangethe
availablelegislativebodiesandtheirassociatedstatistics.
LayerType2:CommunityMaps
Communitymapsaredifferentfromlegislativedistrictsinthatcriteriasuchasequalpopulationarenot
appliedtocommunities.Theydonotneedtobecontiguousorcoveranentirestateorlocality.
Communitiescanbetagged,suchaslabelingthemschooldistrictsorincumbenthomes.Essentially,an
unlimitednumberofcommunitiescanbedrawn;however,communitiescannotoverlaponeanother.
Overlappingcommunitiescanonlybecreatedthroughmultiple,separatecommunitymaps.
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Step2:SelectPlanType
Thenextstepistoselectoneoffourtypesofplantoedit.
1. Templateplansarepregeneratedplansprovidedby
administrators.Theyarerecommendedstartermaps.Thesemay
bethecurrentplan,ablankplanwithnogeographyassignedtoa
district,oranyotherplanthatadministratorschoosetodesignate
asatemplate.
2. Sharedplansareplansthatusershavepubliclysharedandare
availabletoeveryonetoviewormakeacopyofandedit.Shared
plansarestatic.Userswhoownasharedplancannoteditit,but
cancreateacopyandeditthecopy.
3. MyPlansareplansthatareprivateandmaybeonlyviewedand
editedbyaregistereduser.Sharedplansownedbyauseralso
appearintheMyPlanslistwithaidentifierthattheplansare
shared.
4. UploadPlansareplansthataregeneratedbyotherredistricting
software,suchasthosepostedbyalegislatureorredistricting
commission,thatcanbeloadedintoDistrictBuildertoview,edit,
andshare.Uploadedplansmustbeinaspecificformat,described
below.
WhenauserclicksonTemple,SharedorMyPlans,thelistofplansintheAction3.SelectPlanpane
changesaccordinglytoshowtheavailableplansineachcategory.
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UploadaPlan
Plansgeneratedusingotherredistrictingsoftware,suchasthoseproducedbycommercialvendors,can
beuploadedintoDistrictBuilder.Thesefilesmustfollowaspecialformat,aformatothersoftware
commonlyproduces.Therearethreeimportantrequirements:
1. Therecordsmustfollowaspecificformat.
2. Thefilemusthaveanextensionendingin.csv.
3. Thefilemustbezipped.
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UploadPlanRequirements
UploadPlanRequirement1:
Recordsmustconformtoaspecialformat.Hereisanexampleofhowtherecordsmustlook:
517000323003033,2
511990510003000,2
511990505001007,2
510950801014019,2
511990510001189,2
517000315003007,2
Thefirst15charactersisauniqueidentifierforeachcensusblock.Itisaconcatenationofthestate,
county,tract,andcensusblockcodes.
Tip:thesecodesmustbeinstringformat.Iftheyareinanumericformat,leadingzerosmaybe
truncated.Ifthisinformationisloadedintoanotherfile,suchasaspreadsheetlikeExcel,becarefulto
preservethisuniqueidentifierasastring.
Optional: Athirdcommadelimitedfieldcanbeaddedtoeachlinethatidentifiesthenumberofseats
assignedtoadistrict.Thisisforuseinstateswherethesoftwarehasbeenconfiguredtosupportmulti
memberdistricts.
UploadPlanRequirement2:
Thefilemusthavea*.csvextensionforthefilename.Forexample,thefilename"foo.csv"is
acceptable.Theextension*.csvisacommonnamingconventionfordatafileswithacommaseparated
valueformat.
UploadPlanRequirement3:
Thefilemustbezipped,orcompressed.Therearemanyfreeprogramsthatzipfiles.
Howtouploadaplan
1. SelecttheUploadPlantabtoviewtheuploaddialogueboxes.
2. Clicking"Browse..."willopenadialogueboxthatwillaidlocatingafiletouploadonauser's
localcomputer.
3. Selectthelegislativebodytouploadaplanfor.
Optional:Provideanemailtoreceiveanemailnotificationwhentheuploadiscomplete.The
emailmayalsoprovideaerrormessageifaplanfailstoupload,withadescriptionofthe
uploadfailure.Notethattheadministratorsmustenablemailsoftwareonthewebserverfor
DistrictBuildertosendanemail.
4. Nametheplanintheboxlocatedintheupperrightcorner.
5. Press"UploadPlan".
DistrictBuilderwilltakeafewminutestouploadandprocesstheplan.Theamountoftimedependsona
numberoffactors,includinghowmanyotherpeoplearecurrentlyusingDistrictBuilder.Ifanotification
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emailisnotreceived,checkyourMyPlanslistinafewminutestoseeiftheuploadedplanisvisible.
DistrictBuildercanbeusedtoperformotheractionswhileaplanisbeinguploaded.
DownloadPlan
Therearethreemethodstodownloadaplan.ThefirstmethodisavailableontheStep1.Plantab.The
secondmethodisavailablefromtheStep2.Drawtab.ThethirdmethodisontheStep4.Sharetab.
Method1:DownloadfromtheStep1Plantab
Onceaplanisselected(seeAction3.SelectPlan,
below),a"RequestFile"buttonisvisible.Clickonthis
buttonandthesoftwaregeneratesafiletodownload
inthesameformatasdescribedintheUploadPlan
instructions.
ItmaytaketheDistrictBuilderafewminutesto
generatetherequestedfile.Onceafilehasbeen
requestedonce,itiscachedandisavailablefor
downloadimmediatelywhensubsequentrequests
aremade.Whenthefileisreadyfordownload,a
dialogueboxwillopenguidingauserwheretosave
thefileontheirlocalcomputer.
Method2:DownloadfromtheStep2.Drawtab
AfilefordownloadmayberequestedfromStep2.
Drawtabbyclickingonthe"Export"iconintheupper
righthandcornerofthedashboardandselecting"Raw
Data."NotethataPDFofthecurrentmapviewanda
shapefilecanalsobedownloadedhere.
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Method3:DownloadfromtheStep4.Sharetab
AfilefordownloadmayberequestedfromtheStep4.Sharetabbypressingthe"RequestFile"button.
Step3:SelectPlan
OnceAction2.SelectPlanTypehasbeenselected,plansavailableforeditingaredisplayedintheAction
3.SelectPlanarea.Thenameoftheplan,theauthor,andthelasteditingdate/timearedisplayed.For
"MyPlans"acheckboxisalsodisplayedidentifyingifaplanisasharedplan,visibletoeveryone,anda
trashcaniconisdisplayedthatwilldeleteaplan,ifdesired.
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NavigatingListsofAvailablePlans
AvailableplanscanbesortedbyclickingontheName,Author,andLastEditedheaders.MyPlansmay
alsobesortedbysharedstatus.
Iftherearemanyplans,navigationbuttonsatthebottomofthelistofplansareavailable.Clicking >
movesforward(orbackward)onepageofplans,Clicking | movestotheend(orbeginning)pageof
plans.Enteringapagenumberandpressingreturnjumpstothatpageinthelistofplans.
AplanmaybesearchedbyenteringthesearchstringintothetextboxintheupperrightoftheSelect
Planareaandpressingreturn.
DeletingPlans
OwnedplansmaybedeletedbyclickingonAction2.SelectPlanType,MyPlanstabandclickingthe
trashcaniconnexttotheplanname.Aconfirmationisrequestedtodeletetheplan.(Tip:Becareful!It
maybedifficultorimpossibleforadministratorstorecoveradeletedplan.)
Step4:NameaNewPlan/StartDrawing
WhenaTemplateorSharedplanisselected,the
planmustbegivenanewnamebefore
continuing.Todoso:
1. Enterthenametocalltheplanintheboxin
thelowerrighthandcorner.
2. Press"StartDrawing"tobeginmapediting.
AplanselectedfromtheMyPlanslisthasalreadybeengivenaplananame,sothisstepdoesnotneed
toberepeated.Inthiscase,twooptionsarepresented:toedittheplanandtomakeacopy.
Toedittheselectedplan:
1. Selectthe"EditSelectedPlan"radiobutton.
2. Press"StartDrawing".
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TocreateacopyofaplanthatisintheMyPlanslist
whichmaybeusefultoexploredifferentoptions
whilepreservingamappingsavepointperformthe
followingactions:
1. SelectaplanfromtheMyPlanslist.
2. Clicktheradiobutton"CopyandSave
SelectedPlan".
3. Namethenewplan.
4. Press"StartDrawing"
EditPlanDescription
Ifanexistingplanisselectedfromtheplanlist,
additionalinformationinthePlanDetailsareawillbe
availablethatdescribestheplan:theowner,thetime
stampofwhentheplanwaslastedited,ifitis
shared,thenumberofdistrictsinit,anda
"Description."
Ifaplanisownedbyauser,theusermayeditthe
Descriptionbyclickingthe"EditDetails"button.
Doingsoallowstheusertoenterormodifytextin
theDescriptionbox.Whensatisfiedwiththenew
Descriptiontext,clickthe"Save"buttonthatappears
afterclicking"EditDetails".
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TheDrawStep
Afteraplanhasbeenselectedtoeditorview,theStep2.Drawtabappears.Here,toolsformanaging
whatisvisibleinthemaplayers,editingdistricts,manipulatingdistricts,anddistrictstatisticsare
available.Alloftheseareimportantfeaturestounderstandastheyfacilitatethedrawingofalegal
redistrictingplan.
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MapLegend
Perhapsthefirstthingthatmaybenoticedaboutamapisthatdistrictsarecoloredcoded.Closer
examinationrevealsthatthecountiesandothergeographiesthatunderlaythedistrictsarealsoshaded.
Thesecolorsareintendedtoprovideuserswithcluesandtoolsthatenablethedrawingoflegal
redistrictingplans.
TheMapLegendbuttononthelowerrightcornerofthemapprovides
alegendoftheinformationdisplayedaboutthedistrictsandthe
underlyinggeography.
Thedisplayedinformationisdescribedbelowinmoredetail.
Essentially,thereisinformationabouttheunderlyinggeographiesthat
districtsarecreatedoutofandinformationaboutthedistricts
themselves.
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MapLayers
Thedistrictboundariesandboundariesoftheunderlyinggeographies
aredrawnoutofareknownas MapLayers.Althoughnotimmediately
visiblewhenfirsteditingdistricts,DistrictBuildercanalsooverlay
additionalreferencelayerssuchascommunitymapsandother
redistrictingplans.Themaplayerscanbeconfiguredbyclickingon
the SetMapLayers icon.
ClickingontheSetMapLayersiconintheupperleft
handcornerrevealstheChooseMapLayerspopup
window.Thefollowingoptionsareavailable:
1. Changehowthecountiesandotherunderlying
geographiesthatareselectedtobuilder
districtsoutofareshaded.
2. Changehowthedistrictsareshaded.
3. Showotherboundariesasreferencelayers.
ShadingUnderlyingEditableGeography
DistrictBuilderUserGuide,v1.4
ThefirstpulldownboxintheChooseMap
Layersdialogboxchangeshowtheeditable
geographiesareshaded.Bydefault,countiesand
othereditablegeographiesareoftenshadedbytheir
totalpopulation.Thesameistrueforanyother
editablegeographiessuchascensustracts,census
blocks,orprecinctsandwards(theavailable
geographiesaredeterminedbytheadministrators).
Theallowableshadingswillvarywiththeavailable
dataineachstateorlocality.Itispossibletoturnoff
theshadingsbyselecting"None"whichmaybeuseful
iftocreateprintablemaps.
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Typically,theunderlyinggeographiesmaybeshadedbycensusandpoliticaldata.Inanexamplefora
VirginiaDistrictBuilderimplementation:
TotalPop.isthetotalnumberofpersonsinadistrict.Thefederalandsomestateconstitutions
requirethatdistrictshaveequalpopulationthedegreeofequalitydependsonthetypeof
district(congressionalorstatelegislative)anduponstatelaw.
BlackVAPandHisp.VAParetheBlackandHispanicVotingAgePopulation(BlackandHispanic
areCensusBureauterms).Thevotingagepopulationincludeseveryoneage18andolder.The
numberofminoritiesofvotingagewithindistrictsisanimportantstatisticfordistricts
tocomplywiththefederalVotingRightsActorsimilarstaterequirements.Theadministrator
mayenableshadingofgeographiesbyotherracialandethniccategories,too.
%DemGov.'09,TwoPartyisanexampleofelectiondatathatmaybeavailable.Typicallyin
redistricting,statewideracesareusedtoevaluatetheunderlyingpartisanstrengthofdistricts,
whichisonefactortodeterminingwhichparties'candidatesarefavoredtowinwithinadistrict.
"TwoParty"meansthevotefortheDemocraticandRepublicancandidatesonlythisistypical
inredistrictingasthevotesharesforthemajorpoliticalpartiesareusuallythemostmeaningful
totheelectionoutcome.Theadministratorsmayenableshadingofgeographiesformore
electoralcontestsandvotesforminorpoliticalparties.
Pleasekeepinmindthatthereisawealthofracial,ethnic,andpoliticaldatathatcanbemadeavailable.
TheseareillustrativeexamplesusedforaredistrictingcompetitioninVirginia.
TheshadingdefinitionsforthegeographiesarevisiblebyclickingtheMapLegendbuttoninthelower
righthandcornerofthemapeditingarea.
ShadingDistricts
The second pull down box in the Choose Map
Layers dialog box changes how districts are shaded.
By default, districts are usually shaded by their total
population -- and how close they are to the ideal
population for that legislative body.
Tip: The ideal population size of a single member
district is the total population of the state divided by
the number of districts in the legislative body.
The administrators may enable districts to be shaded
by other values, such as the districts' compactness
and contiguity status. Districts may also be chosen to
have no shading, which may be useful to create
printable maps.
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Themapbelowillustrateshowdistrictsmaybeshaded.Here,districtsareshadedbyhowclosetheir
totalpopulationistotheidealequalpopulationdistrict.Thegold(orblue)coloreddistrictsareabove
theidealequalpopulation,withdarkercolorsindicatingthatthedistrictsarefurtherfromtheideal.A
districtthatisnotshadediswithintheequalpopulationtolerancerangesetbytheadministrators.
TheshadingdefinitionsfordistrictsisavailablebyclickingtheMapLegendbuttoninthelowerright
handcornerofthemapeditingarea.
ShowReferenceLayers
Referencelayersaregeographiesthatcanbe
displayed,butcannotbeuseddirectlytoedit
districts.Theboundariesofreferencelayerscan
berespectedbyselectingeditablegeography
containedwithinthem,sotheycanbeusefulto
indirectlyguidemapping.Areasonwhyreference
layerscannotbeusedtoeditdistrictsdirectlyis
thatthattheyarenotguaranteedtobenested
withinthehierarchicalgeographiesofthe
DistrictBuilderdatabase.Allowingeditingofnon
nestedgeographieswouldsignificantlyslowthe
performanceofDistrictBuilder.
Therearetwotypesofreferencelayers,thosethat
areeditablegeographiesandthosethatareof
otherexistingmaps,betheyredistrictingplansor
communitylayers.
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ShowReferenceLayersEditableGeographies
Whenzoomedin,lowerlevelsofgeography
appearforediting;forexample,counties,
censustracts,precincts,andcensusblocks.
Theboundariesforgeographiesotherthan
theonecurrentlyeditablecanbedisplayed
bychoosingtheavailablegeographiesinthe
thirdpulldownboxChooseaReference
LayerintheChooseMapLayersdialog
window.Theadministratorsselectthe
availablereferencelayersforviewing.
ShowReferenceLayersLegislativeDistrictsorCommunityMaps
Otherlegislativedistrictsorcommunitymapscanbedisplayedasreferencelayersbyclickingon
theChoosealegislativedistrictorcommunitymapreferencelayerbuttonintheChooseMap
Layersdialogwindow.
Clickingthisbuttonrevealsafilemanagerthatissimilarincharactertotheplanchooserdescribedin
Step1.Plan.Fromhere,selectaredistrictingplanforalegislativebodyoracommunitymapthateither
auserisprivatelyworkingonorthatotherusershaveshared.
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Toselectareferencelayerfordisplay,
chooseoneoftheavailablemaptypeson
theSelectPlanTypedropdrownbox.Usually
thesewillbecongressionalplans,state
legislativeplans,andcommunitymaps.By
default,congressionalplanswillbetypically
displayed.
Onceaplantypeisselected,theSelectPlan
toDisplayasReferenceLayerwillpopulate
withalistofavailableplans.Theplanscanbe
sortedbytheusernameandplannameby
clickingonthecolumnheaders.Usethe
navigationbuttonsatthebottomoftheplan
listtodisplayadditionalplans.
Whensatisfiedwiththeshadingofthemap
editingenvironmentandthelayertodisplay,
clickontheOKbuttontoreturntomapping.
Ifareferencelayerisselected,itsnamewill
bedisplayedintheMapTransparencyDialog
Boxlocatedintheupperrighthandcornerof
themappingarea.
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ZoomandPanTools
Thegeographiclayerthatcanbeeditedistiedtothezoomlevel.Whenzoomedfarout,onlycounties
orthelargestlocalgeographyarevisibleforediting.Whenzoomedinothereditablegeography
becomeavailable,suchascensustracts,VotingTabulationDistricts(agenerictermforprecincts,wards,
electiondistricts,etc.),andcensusblocks.
DistrictBuildertiestheeditablelayertothezoomlevelsincethisavoidsaproblemofshowingthemany
censusblocksforanentirestate.Alargeamountofdatamustbesentthroughtheinternetandslows
DistrictBuilder'sperformanceconsiderably.
PanTool
Tomovetheviewareainanorth/south/east/westdirectionclickonthearrowson
thenavigationbuttonslocatedintheupperlefthandcornerofthemappingarea.
Themousemayalsobeusedtopan.Todoso:
1. ClickthePanTool(thehandiconontheEditMaptools).Thisisthedefault
editingtoolwhenfirstenteringthemappingscreen.
2. Clickonthemappingareaandholddownthemousebutton.
3. Movethecursorwhileholdingdownthemousebuttontodragthemap.
ZoomTools
Therearethreewaystochangethezoomlevel.
ZoomSliderTool
Tozoominaboutoutusingthezoomslidertoollocatedintheupperlefthand
cornerofthemappingarea,clickontheplusorminussigntozoominorout,
respectively.Or,clickonthesliderandmoveittothedesiredzoomlevel.
MapExtantTool
Toquicklychangethezoomlevelbacktotheentirejurisdiction,alsocalledthe
extent,clicktheroundiconatthecenterofthenavigationbuttons.
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MarquisZoomTool
Thisisperhapsthemostusefulzoomtool,andthereisnoassociatediconthatidentifiesitsexistence.
Toquicklyzoomtoanareausingthemarquiszoomtool:
1. ClickthePanTool(thehandiconontheMapEditingtools).Thisisthedefaulteditingtoolwhen
firstenterthemappingscreen.
2. Whileholdingshift,clickonthemappingareaandholdtheleftmousebutton
3. Movethecursorwhilecontinuingtoholdthemousebutton.
Arectanglewilldisplayonthemap.Thisrectanglerepresentstheareawillbezoomedto.When
satisfiedwiththeareatozoomto,releasethemousebuttonandDistrictBuilderwillzoomtothe
selectedarea.
MapTransparency
Displayedunderneaththedistrictsorcommunities,editablegeographies,andreferencelayersisamap
layerofroads,cities,andotherfeaturesthatprovideshelpfulcontexttoamappingsession.
Thetransparencylevelofthedistrictsandtheeditablegeographiescanbeincreasedordecreasedby
movingtheroadstransparencysliderintheMapTransparencydialogboxfoundintheupperrightof
themappingarea.
Ifareferencelayerisselected,itsnamewillbedisplayedintheMapTransparencydialogbox.
Optional:InsomeDistrictBuilderimplementationsthebasebackgroundmapcanbechangedamong
thosetheadministratorhasmadeavailable,suchas:OpenStreetMap(orosm),GoogleMaps,andBing
Maps.SelectapreferredstreetmapbyclickingontheappropriatebuttonontheSetMapTransparency
dialogbox.LicensingrestrictionsexistforGoogleandBingmaps,sotheadministratorsmaychoosenot
tomakethesemapsavailable.
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MapToolSets
Twosetsofmappingtoolsareavailableintwotabsatthetopofthemappingarea.
1. MapEditingtoolsareforselectingandassigningeditablegeographiestodistricts.
2. DistrictToolsareadditionalmappingutilities.Selecttoolsetbyclickingonthedesiredtab.
Fivetoolsareavailabletobothtoolsets:thePanTool,InfoTool,UndoandRedo,andExport.
ThePanTool
MovethemapviewwiththePanTool.Selectthehandicon,clickandhold
downthemousebutton,andmovethecursor.
TheInfoTool
TheInfoToolreportsthenameandthecensusandpoliticaldataassociated
withaneditablegeographybyclickingonit.
Undo/RedoEdit
AnyeditcanbeundonebyusingtheUndo/RedoTools.Theiconontheleftwill
undoaneditandtheiconontherightwillredoanedit.Undoandredoof
multipleeditsisallowed.
Ifaneditismadeafteranundoactionisperformed,theredoactionwillno
longerbeavailable.
TheUndo/Redohistoryiscleareduponloggingoutofamappingsession.
ExportMapsandDataTool
DistrictBuilderUserGuide,v1.4
Threetypesofinformationareavailableforexportfromthe
Exporticononthetoprightofthemappingdashboard:
1. Print:GeneratesaPDFofthecurrentmapview,which
canbeusedforprintingandotherpurposes.(Adobe
Readerrequired,availableat:
http://get.adobe.com/reader/).
2. Shapefile:Aspecialelectronicrepresentationofa
redistrictingplanorcommunitymap.Shapefilesarea
commonformatusedbygeographicinformation
systemssoftware.Shapefilesmaybeusefulwhenthe
creationofspecializedmapsarerequired,forexample,
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forpublicationinanewspaper.(Forthosewithout
commercialGISsoftware,tryafreewareopensource
GISprogramcalledQuantumGISavailableat:
http://www.qgis.org/).
3. RawData:Aspecialtextformatthatassociateseach
districtorcommunitywithacensusblock.Pleasesee
theUploadandDownloadplanfeaturediscussed
aboveforafulldescription.
MapEditingToolSet
The Map Editing tools are designed for selecting and assigning editable geographies to districts. The
mapping task is divided into two steps. First, editable geographies are selected and second they are
assigned to districts. There are two different types of tools for this task, selection tools and assignment
tools.
Tip: While selection and assignment tools can be simultaneously selected, it is important to remember
these are two different types of tools. If the software appears to behave unexpectedly, it can be often
useful to review the selection and assignment tools.
SelectTools
The three Select Tools are to select geographies for assignment to a district. Individual editable
geographies or collections of editable geographies can be selected, depending on the tool.
If a large number of geographies are selected using any selection tool, an error message prompts to
select fewer geographies. DistrictBuilder will slow significantly if too many geographies are selected.
When working at the census block level, it is often easy to select (and fail to select) many geographically
small zero-population road and water segments, so be careful when working at this level. Often, a clue
that something has happened is that a district's statistics are updated to indicate the district is noncontiguous. DistrictBuilder provides additional District Tools to help with the sometimes tedious task of
locating unassigned geographies.
TheSingleSelectTool
TheSingleSelecttoolselectsasinglepieceofgeographyforassignmentbyclickingonit.
Todoso:
1. ClicktheSingleSelecttoolicon.
2. Clicktheeditablegeographytoselectit.
Additionalgeographiescanbeaddedtoaselectionbyholdingdown"shift"whileclicking
onmoregeographies.
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TheRectangleSelectTool
TheRectangleSelectToolselectsagroupofgeographiesforassignment.Todoso:
1.
2.
3.
4.
ClicktheRectangleSelecttoolicon.
Clickandholdthemousebuttonoverthedesiredareatoselect.
Whileholdingthemousebutton,dragthepointeroverthedesiredareatoselect.
Arectanglewillbevisible.Whensatisfiedwiththeselectionarea,releasethe
mousebutton.Allgeographiesthattouchtherectangleareselected.
ThePolygonSelectTool
ThePolygonSelecttoolselectsagroupofgeographiesforassignmentusingafreehand
drawingtool.Todoso:
1. ClickthePolygonSelecttoolicon.
2. Clickandholdthemousebuttonoverthedesiredareatoselect.
3. Whileholdingthemousebutton,dragthemouseoverthedesiredareatoselect.
UnliketheRectangleSelectTool,afreehandshapeisdrawn.
4. Theselectionareaistracedout.Whensatisfiedwiththeselectionarea,releasethe
mousebutton.Allgeographiesthattouchtheselectionareaareselected.
AssignmentTools
Theheartofredistrictingmappingisassigningselectedgeographiestoadistrict.
Therearetwomethodsthatperformthistask:
1. TheAnchorDistrictassignmenttool.
2. TheClickandDragassignmenttool.
TheAnchorDistrictassignmenttoolisalsothetooltocreatenewdistricts,iftherearestillemptyslots.
Thenumberofdistrictslotsissetbytheadministratorandtypicallywillnotexceedthemaximum
numberofdistrictsforaparticularlegislativebody.
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TheAnchorDistrictAssignmentTool
TheAnchorDistrictassignmenttoolactslikeapaintbrush.Any
geographythatisselectedisautomaticallyassignedtothedistrictthe
anchorisassociatedwith.
TheAnchorDistrictmaybeassociatedwiththreedifferenttypesof
"districts"or"communities":
1. Anexistingdistrict.Allselectededitablegeographieswillbe
assignedtotheassociateddistrict.
2. Unassignedgeography.Allselectededitablegeographieswillbe
assignedtonodistrict,or"unassigned."
3. Anewdistrict.Allcurrentlyselectedgeographieswillbeassigned
toanewdistrictifaslotisavailable.SeeCreateaNew
Districtbelowformoreinformation.
ToassociatetheAnchorDistricttoadistrict:
1. Selectthedistrictfromthepulldownlisttotheimmediateright
oftheAnchorDistricticon.
2. Useaselectiontooltoselectgeography.Thegeographywillbe
assignedtothedistrictassociatedwiththeAnchorDistrict
assignmenttool.
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TheClickandDragTool
TheClickandDragassignmenttoolallowsusersto"grab"anyselected
geographyand"drag"itintoadifferentdistrictthatonewishestoassignit
to.Todoso:
1. Useaselectiontooltoselecteditablegeography.Oncethe
geographyisselected,itwillbehighlightedinyellow.
2. ClickontheClickandDragicon.
3. Movethemouseovertheselectedgeographyandthepointer
arrowchangestoafourpointedarrow.Leftclickonthe
geographyandaclosedhandwillappear.Theselectioncannow
be"dragged"ontoadifferentdistrictthanitiscurrentlyassigned
to.Whenthemousebuttonisreleasedthegeographywillbe
assignedtothenewdistrict.
Tip:Acommonerroroccurswhendroppingthegeographybackintothedistrictitiscurrentlyassigned
to.Whenthishappens,DistrictBuilderdisplaysthemessage"NoDistrictsUpdated."
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CreateaNewDistrict
Sometimespeopleprefertostartmappingfromablankmaporareworkingforapartiallycompleted
map,perhapsbecausetheyhaveremovedadistrictinaslowgrowingareaofastate.TheAnchor
Districtassignmenttoolisalsousedtocreateanewdistrict.Tocreateanewdistrict,anavailabledistrict
numbermustbeavailabletoassignselectedgeographyto.
Ifthemaximumnumberofdistrictsisreached,adistrictnumberslotcanbefreedupbythreemethods:
1. AssociatetheAnchorDistrictassignmenttooltounassigned.Selectallofadistrict'sgeography
andchangeittounassigned.
2. UsetheUnassignDistricttooltounassignallofadistrict'sgeographyinonestep.See
theUnassignDistricttool,describedbelow.
3. Incertaincircumstancesadistrictnumbermaybealreadyavailable.Forexample,suchadistrict
maybeavailableinastatethathasgainedoneormorecongressionaldistrictsandthestarting
mapisthecurrentcongressionaldistricts.
Intheexampletotheleft,District6isavailablefor
assignment.
ToassigngeographytoanewDistrict6,performthe
followingsteps:
DistrictBuilderUserGuide,v1.4
1. Useaselectiontooltoselecteditable
geography.
2. FromthedropdownlistintheAnchorDistrict
AssigningToolselect"NewDistrict"
Tip:Remembertoselectthegeographyfirst!
3. Apopupwindowappearsrequestingthenew
districttoassignthegeographytoamongthe
availableslots.Intheexample,thereisonlyone
option,District6.Selectthedistricttoassignthe
geographytoandclick"OK".
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DistrictToolsSet
TheDistrictToolssetmaybeaccessedbyselectingtheDistrictToolstab.Theseareutilitytoolsthat
assistmapediting.
LockDistrictTool
TheLockDistricttoolallowsuserstoclickonadistrictandtoggleitbetweenbeing
lockedandunlocked.Alockeddistrictcannotbeedited.Lockeddistrictsarehighlighted
inred.Thisistoolisusefulwhenasatisfactorydistricthasbeencreatedandprevents
inadvertentchangesmadetoit.
TheLockDistrictcancausedelaysinselectingeditablegeographies.Whenageography
isselectedthatincludesorisboundedbyoneormorelockeddistricts,DistrictBuilder
mustidentifyallintersectinggeographieswiththelockeddistrict.Ifsignificantslowing
occurs,unlockadjoiningdistricts,ifpossible.
Tip:TheLockDistricttoolisalsousefultoquicklyselecteditablegeographysplitby
districts.Forexample,toassigntheportionofacountysplitbytwodistricts,lockoneof
thetwodistrictsandselectthecounty.Onlytheunlockedgeographywithinthecounty
willbeselected.
Tip:TheLockDistricttoolcansometimesbeusefultofindstraynoncontiguouspieces
ofdistricts.Theredoutlineoflockeddistrictsmaybemorevisiblethantheunlocked
goldcoloredoutline.Ahighlightdistricttoolonthestatisticsbar,discussedbelow,is
alsousefulforthistask.
DistrictInfoTool
TheDistrictInfotoolshowsthedistrictnumberoftheselecteddistrict.TheDistrict
Infotoolisusefulwhendistrictlabelsarenotbevisibleorreadilyapparent,particularly
whenzoomedin.
UnassignDistrictTool
TheUnassignDistrictunassignsthegeographyassociatedwithanentiredistrict.Thisis
usefulwhenusedinconjunctionwithcreatinganewdistrictusingtheAnchor
DistricttoolorwhenusingthedistrictCopyandPastetool,whichbothrequirean
unassigned"slot"tocopyadistrictinto.Todoso:
1. ClicktheUnassignDistricticon.
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2. Clickonthedistricttounassign.
3. Aconfirmationmessageappearsinapopupbox.
Tip:UsetheUndotooltoundoanyedit,includingunassigninganentiredistrict.
DistrictCopyandPasteTool
TheCopyandPastetoolcopiesanentiredistrictorsetofdistrictsfromaviewableplan:any
planintheTemplate,Shared,orMyPlansfilelistings.
Anemptydistrictslottocopythedistrictintomustbeavailable.DistrictBuilderisconfiguredto
drawaspecificnumberofdistrictsforalegislativebody,determinedbytheadministrator.
ClickingontheCopyandPasteToolwhenatthemaximumnumberofdistrictswillproducea
warningmessagethatthemaximumnumberofdistrictshasbeenreached.Tofreeadistrict
slot,eitherusetheUnassignDistricttooltoquicklyunassignalleditablegeographiesassociated
withadistrictorusetheDistrictAnchortooltomanuallyunassignthealleditablegeographies
associatedwithadistrict.
Tip:IdentifythespecificplananddesireddistricttocopyfrombeforeusingtheCopyand
Pastetool.Thereisapreviewmapthathighlightsdistricts,butgeographicallysmalldistricts,
particularlyinurbanareas,maybedifficulttodistinguishfromoneanother.
Ifanemptydistrictslotisavailable,thefollowingmenuispresentedwhentheCopyandPasteiconis
clicked:
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Therearethreestepstocopyingandpastingadistrict.
1. Choosetheplantocopythedistrictfrom.ThelistinginterfaceissimilartotheSelectPlanfile
managementinterface.Planscanbesortedbytheuser,planname,anddateoflastedit.
Navigationbuttonsareavailableifthenumberofplansexceedsonepage.
2. Selectoneormoredistrictsintheplantocopyintothecurrentlyeditedplan.Remember,
enoughfreedistrictslotsmustbeavailabletocopythedistrict(s)into.Apreviewpaneonthe
rightwilldisplayareducedsizeimageoftheselecteddistricttocopy.Notethatworkingwith
smallsizeddistrictsindenselypopulationurbanareas,thepreviewmaynotbeinformative.Itis
recommendedthattheplannameanddistrictnumberstocopyarenotedfrombeforeinvoking
theCopyandPastetool.
3. Whensatisfiedwiththeselection,clickthe"Paste"button.
WhentheCopyandPastetoolisinvokedthecopieddistrictwilloverwriteanydistrictinthetargetplan
thatisnotlockedusingtheLockDistricttool.Often,therewillbeunassignedgeographyleftoverafter
aCopyandPasteprocedureiscompleted.Itisrecommendedthesegeographiesareassignedsoonafter
acompletingaCopyandPasteprocedureastheymayotherwisebeforgotten.
Tip:UsetheUndotooltoundoanyedit,includingoneusingtheCopyandPastetool.
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IdentifyingSplitGeographies
DistrictBuildercancalculatethenumberoftimesdistrictssplitgeographies,suchascounties,
communities,ordistrictsforotherlegislativebodies.The ShowSplits and GenerateSplitsReport are
usefultoolstodrawdistrictsthatminimizethenumberofsplitswithanyeditablegeographysuchasa
county,publiclysharedorprivatelyavailableredistrictingplan,publiclysharedorprivatelyavailable
communitymap,oranyboundarythatcanbeshownasareferencelayer.
ShowSplits
IfareferencelayerhasbeenselectedusingtheSetMapLayers,clickingtheShowSplits
iconwillvisuallyshowalldistrictsthatsplittheselectedreferencelayer.Thedistrictswill
behighlightedinblueonthemapandthestatisticssidebar.Thebluehighlightscanbe
removedbyclickingonthedistrictonthestatisticssidebar.
GenerateSplitsReport
ClickingtheGenerateSplitsReporticonwillinvoketheSplitsReportdialogbox.TheGenerate
SplitsReportcreatesalistofallthegeographiessplitbyeachdistrict,withadditionaloptions
describedbelow.
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SelectReferenceLayerforReport(Default)
Uptothreereferencelayerscancomparedagainst
thecurrentplan'sdistrictstoidentifysplitswiththose
geographies.Bydefault,oftencountiesandatleast
onelowerlayersuchascensustractsorVTDs(i.e.,
precinctsandwardstheCensusBureaugenerically
callstheseVotingTabulationDistrictsorVTDs)are
availableforasplitsreport.
IfareferencelayerhasbeenselectedusingtheSet
MapLayers,suchasanotherredistrictingplan
includingoneforanotherlegislativebodyora
communitymap,theselectedreferencelayerisalso
availableforasplitsreport.
ReverseSplitsDetectionandExtendedReport(Optional)
Checkingthereversesplitsdetectionboxproducesa
reportofthedistrictsthatspliteachreferencelayer
geography,insteadofthereferencelayersthatsplit
districts.Intheexample,above,alistofeach
congressionaldistrictsplittingastateSenatedistrictis
generated.
Bydefault,theGenerateSplitsReportgeneratesalist
ofthesplitgeographiesonly.Checkingtheextended
reportwillgenerateareportofallgeographies
containedwithinadistrict,bothfullycontainedand
partiallycontainedwithineachdistrict.Inthisreport,
splitgeographiesarehighlightedinredandanasterisk
isplacednexttothegeographyname.Geographies
thatarenotsplitaredisplayedinblack.
Tip:Theextendedreportrequirestwodatabase
queries,onetoidentifysplitgeographiesandoneto
identifynonsplitgeographies.Theextendedreport
maythustakesignificantlylongeramountoftimeto
run.
GenerateaSplitsReport
Whensatisfiedwiththeoptions,clicktheGenerateReportbuttontoproduceareport.
CloseSplitsReportPopupWindow
Toexit,clicktheclosedialogwindow"x"intheupperrighthandcornerofthedialogbox.
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PlanStatistics
DistrictBuildercanbeusedtodrawsingledistrictsorcommunities.However,theprimarytaskin
redistrictingistodrawalegalredistrictingplan.Thisiscanbeaverydifficultandtimeconsumingtask.
Tohelpassesshowmeasurablelegalrequirementsareachieved,planlevelanddistrictlevelstatistics
aredisplayedinarighthandpaneoftheStep2:Drawwindow.Planreferstosummarystatisticsforall
thedistrictsonamap.Districtreferstoeachindividualdistrict.
Thesestatisticsareupdatedwitheachchangemadetoaplan.Theavailablestatisticsaredependenton
theavailabledata.PleasekeepinmindthattheavailabledataislimitedtothoseprovidedbytheCensus
Bureauandwhatotherdatacanbemergedwiththecensusdata.Theadministratorwillprovidedefault
plananddistrictstatisticstodisplaywithplans.DistrictBuilderalsoallowsthecreationofapersonalized
setofdistrictstatisticsfromamongalistofallavailablestatisticsprovidedbytheadministrator.
TheStatisticsPane
TheStatisticsPanehastwoimportantsetofstatistics.Plan
statisticsappearatthetopanddistrictstatisticsappearin
thebottom.Thedefaultstatisticsmayvary,astheyare
selectedbytheadministrator.Userscancreatecustomized
districtstatistics.
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HidingtheStatisticsPane
TheStatisticsPanecanbetoggledonandoffbyclicking
onthearrowbuttonnearthetopleftcornerofthe
StatisticsPane.
Tip:Whenworkingwithsmallcomputermonitorhidethe
StatisticsPanetoprovidemore mapping room.
PlanStatistics
PlanstatisticsarelocatednearthetopoftheStatistics
Pane.Planstatisticsaresummarystatisticsforall
districts.Theplanstatisticscontainthefollowing
information:
PlanName
Thenameoftheeditedplanisatthetop.Inthisexample,theplanis"Mike'sCongressional".
Score
Ascoreisameasurablestatisticthatisdefinedbytheadministrator.Intheexampleprovided,thereare
scoresforhowmanydistrictsarenearthetargetpopulation,howmanydistrictsarecontiguous(i.e.,all
partsofadistrictareconnected),andhowmanydistrictsachievebenchmarksforracialrepresentation
consistentwithsatisfyingtheVotingRightsAct.
Target
Atargetisthevalueforascore.Eachdistrictisevaluatedtoseeifitmeetsthetarget.Forexample,the
targetvaluefortheBlackVAP(votingagepopulation)Majorityscoreis50%ormore,or(>50%).
Districts
Districtsarethecountofdistrictsthatsatisfythetargetforascore.Providedinparenthesesnexttothis
countarethetotalnumberofdistrictsthatmustreachthescorefortheplantobeconsideredavalid
planforinclusioninleaderboards.Intheexampleprovided,thereare11totaldistricts.Allmusthave
equalpopulationandbecontiguous,fortheplanbeingdrawntobelegaltheremustbe11districtsthat
satisfythesescores,or"(of11)".
AnImportantWordAbouttheVotingRightsAct
Onlyacertainnumberofdistrictsmustbedrawntohaveatargetminoritypopulationthatmaysatisfy
theVotingRightsAct.Inthiscase,theadministratorhasdeterminedthatthereare1Blackand0
Hispanicdistrictswithaminoritypercentageabove50%votingagepopulationthatmustbedrawnthat
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maysatisfytheVotingRightsAct.Thus,thenumberofdistrictsthattheadministratorhasdetermined
mustbedrawnare1or"(of1)"and0or"(of0)",respectively.
ThephrasemaysatisfytheVotingRightsActisusedherebecausetheVotingRightsActisoneofthe
mostcomplicatedaspectsofredistricting.CourtsandtheDepartmentofJusticehavefoundmanystate
andlocalplansinviolationoftheVotingRightsAct.Theplanlevelstatisticsprovideuserswithguidelines
todrawalegalredistrictingplan.However,withoutexhaustivelegalandstatisticalanalysesthatarewell
beyondthecurrentcapabilitiesofanyredistrictingsoftware,itcannotknowifaplanwillstrictlycomply
withtheVotingRightsAct.DistrictBuilderguidesuserstodrawatleasttheminimumnumberof
minoritydistrictssatisfyingthetargetminorityopportunitydistricts,soaplancanbetakenseriouslyby
policymakers.
Usersareencouragedtotrytodrawmoreminoritydistrictsthanthenumberprovidedbythe
administrator.Forexample,UniversityofVirginiastudentsusingDistrictBuilderwereablegobeyondthe
minimumprovidedbytheadministratorfortheirstateSenateplansubmittedtotheVirginia
RedistrictingCompetition.Theytherebyrevealedthatitmaybepossibletoenhanceminority
representationinthatlegislativebody,afactthatnooneknewbefore.Ifmorepeopledrawdistricts,
perhapsopportunitiestoimproverepresentationforallAmericanswillberevealed.
DistrictStatistics
Districtstatisticsaredisplayedbelowtheplanstatistics
intheStatisticsPane.Districtstatisticsarestatisticsthat
areassociatedwitheachdistrict.
DistrictNumber
Onthelefthandsideisthenumberassociatedwitheach
district.
UnassignedGeography
Unassignedgeographyisgivendistrictnumberzero.
DisplayingDistricts
Whenworkingwithalargenumberofdistricts,asis
oftenthecaseforastatelegislativebody,itisnot
possibletodisplaystatisticsforeverydistrictatonce.If
therearemoredistrictsthancanfitwithintheStatistics
Pane,asliderbarcanbeusedtoscrollthroughallthe
districts.Whenzoomedallthewayoutsuchthatthe
entirestateorlocalityisvisible,allthedistrictswillbe
orderedsequentiallyintheStatisticsPane.When
zoomedintoworkwithagroupofdistricts,
DistrictBuilderpromotesthevisibledistrictsinthe
editingareatothetopofthedistrictlist.Thenonvisible
districtsareorderedbelowthevisibledistrictsandare
grayedout.Intheexampletotheleft,districts2,8,9,
10,and11arenotvisibleintheeditingarea.
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HighlightDistricts
ClickingonadistrictintheStatisticsPanehighlightsthe
districtinblueontheStatisticsPaneandonthemap.
Tip:HighlightingDistrictsisusefulwhenlocatingsmall
noncontiguousgeographiesassignedtoadistrict,such
asstreamsorroadmedians.
AvailableStatistics
Theavailablestatisticsarechosenbytheadministratorandaredependentontheavailabledata.
Typically,thesestatisticswillincludetheonesintheexample,above.Somedescriptionsofthe
commonlyavailablestatisticsare:
TotPop
TotPopreferstototalpopulation.DistrictBuildershadesthenumberinasimilarmannerasthe
districts,whendistrictsarecoloredbytheirhowwelltheirtotalpopulationachievespopulation
equality,whichisaredistrictingrequirement.IntheexampleVirginiacongressionalmap,thetarget
populationis727,366.Districtsabovethisvalueoutsideofathresholdrangehaveatotal
populationshadedingoldanddistrictsbelowthisvalueareshadedinblue/green.
Contiguity
Contiguitymeansthatallgeographywithinadistrictconnects.DistrictBuilderperformsasimple
checktoseeifthisistrue.Ifso,adistricthasagreencheckmark.Iffalse,adistricthasared
exclamationpoint.
Tip:Checkcontiguityoften,asitiseasytocreatenoncontiguousdistrictsduringmapping.
Compactness
Therearemanywaystomeasurecompactness.Typicalcompactnessmeasurescompareadistrictto
acircle,whichisconsideredtobethemostcompactshape.Intheexample,DistrictBuilderdisplaysa
compactnessmeasurecalledtheSchwartzbergmeasure,whichcomparestheperimeterofthe
districttotheperimeterofacirclewiththesameareaasthedistrict.TheSchwartzbergmeasure
rangesfrom0%to100%,withmorecompactdistrictshavingahighervalue.Othercompactness
measuresmaybemadeavailablebytheadministrator.
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TotalPopulationandVotingAgePopulationStatistics
TohelpdeterminecompliancewiththeVotingRightsAct,DistrictBuildertypicallyprovidesvoting
agepopulationpercentagesforvariousethnicandracialsubgroups.Similarstatisticscanalsobe
providedforthetotalpopulation.
ElectionStatistics
Tomeasurethepoliticalcharacterofdistricts,DisitrictBuildertypicallyprovideselectionresultsfor
variousofficesaggregatedintoaplan'sdistricts.Electionresultsmaynotbeavailableforsome
statesandalimitednumberofelectionsmaybeavailablewheretheyareprovided.
StatisticsEditor
Duetospaceconstraints,onlyalimitednumberof
statisticscanbedisplayedintheStatisticsPaneatany
onetime.Thesetofstatisticstobedisplayedcanbe
changedbyusingthepulldownmenuatthetopofthe
StatisticsPane.Theadministratormaymakesome
statisticsavailablebydefault,usuallycalled"Basic
Information"and"Demographics".Personalized
statisticssetscanbecreatedusingEditStats.Inthis
case,thecustomized"VAPdemos"statisticssetis
available.
CreateNewStatisticsSet
Tocreateanewstatisticssetthatcanbeaccessedbythedropdownmenu,usethefollowingsteps:
ClickontheEditStatsbutton.TheEdit
StatisticsSetswindowappears.
Selectupto3statisticsbyclickingonthecheck
boxnexttothedesiredstatistic.Ascrollbaris
availableifallstatisticscannotbedisplayedin
theEditStatisticsSetswindow.Fewerthan3
statisticsmaybeselected,butmorethan3
statisticscannotbeassociatedwithastatistics
set.Allcurrentlyselectedstatisticscanbe
clearedbyclickingthe"ClearChoices"button.
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Namethestatisticssetandclick"Save".If
successful,theStep2.Planediting
environmentreappearswiththeStatistics
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set.
EditStatisticsSet
Toeditanexistingstatisticsset,clickonthenameofthestatisticssetinthelistatthebottomofthe
EditsStatisticsSetswindow.Statisticssetcanbemodifiedoracopycanbemadebygivingthestatistics
setanewname.Whensatisfiedwiththechanges,click"Save".
DeleteStatisticsSet
Todeleteanexistingstatisticsset,clickonthegarbagecaniconnexttothestatisticssetname.
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CommunityMaps
Manystateconstitutionsexplicitlyrequiredistrictstorespectcommunitiesofinterest,andinothers,
redistrictingauthoritiesmayrespectcommunitiesevenifdoingsoisnotrequiredbylaw.The
communitymapfeaturepermitsthepublictodefinetheircommunitiesonamap,sothatredistricting
authoritiescanconsiderthemintheirmappingdecisions.
AcommunitymapcanbeusedwiththeMapLayerstooltoshowcommunitieswhiledrawinga
redistrictingplan,andwiththeShowSplitsandGenerateSplitsReporttoolstoshowwhendistrictssplit
communitiesorgroupvariousordifferentcommunitiesintoadistrict.
Thecommunitymapfeaturecanbeusedforotherpurposes,too.Forexample,a"community"couldbe
thecensusblocksassociatedwithincumbents'homes.Whenthesehomesareidentifiedasacommunity
maplayer,theGenerateSplitsReporttoolcanshowwhentwoormoreincumbentsareplacedinthe
samedistrict.Ifthepartyaffiliationoftheincumbentsisnoted,thereportwillshowifoneparty's
incumbentsaredisproportionatelygroupedintodistrictswheretheywouldfaceeachotherinan
election.
Thecommunitymapfeaturesharesmuchofthesamelookandfeelastheinterfacefordrawinga
redistrictingplan,withsomeimportantdifferencesaredescribedhere.
DrawingaCommunity
Unlesstheadministratorhasalreadyprovidedacompletedcommunitylayerasatemplateoranother
user'ssharedcommunitymapisavailable,communitymappingstartsfromablankmap.Thefirststepis
toaddanewcommunitytothismap.Todothis:
1.Useaselecttooltoselectthegeographytoassignto
thecommunity.
2.IntheAssigntoCommunitypulldown,select"New
Community".
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3.Next,theCommunityInfodialoguebox
appears.
Threetypesofinformationcanbeentered:
CommunityLabel:Anameforthe
community.
CommunityType:Communitytypesare
usedtodeterminewhendistrictssplit
orcombinecommunitiesofsimilaror
differenttypes.Theadministratormay
providedsomesuggesteddefaulttypes,
butusersareallowedtoentertheir
owntypes.Whenanewtypeis
entered,itisavailableasacommunity
typesothatitcanbeeasilyassignedto
anothercommunity.
Uptothreedifferenttypescanbe
assignedtoacommunity,byseparating
thetypenameswithacomma.
Remember,typesareusefulfor
determininghowsimilarordissimilar
communitiesaresplitorgrouped.This
informationwillnotbeparticularly
meaningfulifeachcommunityis
assignedauniquetype.
Comment:Anyadditionaltextto
describethecommunity.
4. Click"Save"andthecommunityisadded.
Morecommunitiesmaybeaddedbyrepeatingthesesteps.TheSelectandAssignmapeditingtoolscan
beusedtoeditcommunities,justastheyareusedtoeditdistricts.
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CommunityStatistics
CommunityList
Onceacommunityiscreatedtheinformationaboutitandothersthathavedrawnispresentedinthe
StatisticsPanetotherightofthemappingarea.
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DisplayingCommunityStatistics
Communitystatistics,suchasracialandpoliticalcharacteristics,maybeviewedusingthepulldowntab
atthetopofthestatisticssidebarontherighthandsideofthemappingarea.EditStatscanbeusedto
choosecustomizedstatisticstodisplayalongwiththosetheadministratorhasmadeavailable.
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TheEvaluateStep
TheStep3.Evaluatetabgeneratesastatisticsreportforthecurrentlyselectedmap.
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SelectingStatisticsforReporting
WhenfirstenteringtheStep3:Evaluatetab,anumberofcheckboxesarepresentedthatareassociated
withvariousavailablestatisticsthatDistrictBuildercangenerate.Theavailablestatisticsandtheir
behavioraresetbythesoftwareadministrators.Typically,thesestatisticsincludethefollowing
information,whichisincludedinthedatabaseunderlyingthesoftware.
Population.Bydefault,allreportsincludethetotalnumberofpersonswithineachdistrict.
Additionalstatisticsmaybeselectedforvotingagepopulationbyraceandethnicity,whichare
importanttoconsiderwhendrawingdistrictsthatcomplywiththeVotingRightsAct.Please
notethatcompliancewiththeVotingRightsActisacomplicatedlegalquestion.DistrictBuilder
canonlyprovidestatisticsontheminoritypopulations.Itcannotassessotherimportantlegal
considerations,suchastheeffectivelevelofminoritypopulationneededtoelectaminority
candidateofchoice.
MajorityMinorityDistricts.Tofurther,andquickly,determinehowwellaplanconformsto
minorityrepresentationgoals,reportsonwhetherornotaparticulardistrictisamajority
minorityvotingagepopulationdistrictareavailable.
PoliticalData.Intheexamplegiven,countsforthenumberofvotesfortheDemocrat,
Republican,andsumofminorpartycandidatesinagovernor'sraceareprovided.More(orno)
electoralcontestsmaybeavailable,dependingonthedatabaseconstructedforastateorlocal
jurisdiction.
SplitGeographies.Thesereportscountthenumberofgeographiessplitbyeachdistrict.Ifa
districtentirelycontainsageographysuchasacountythentherearezerosplitsofthat
county.Acountofsplitgeographiesaregeneratedforeachdistrict.Forexample,ifthereare
twodistrictsinacounty,theneachwillhavesplitthatcountyonceforatotaloftwosplitsfor
thecounty.Thiscountymethodmeansthatnocountycanhaveasinglesplit.Totalingacrossall
districtsprovidesacountofallsplitsinaplan.
Theadministratormaychoosetomakeadditionalstatisticsavailable.
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GeneratingaReport
Oncethedesiredstatisticshavebeenselected,generateareportbyclickingthe"CreateandPreview
Report"button.Reportsarecomputationallyintensive,sotheymaytakeawhile,especiallyiftherearea
largenumberofusersdrawingmaps.Forthisreason,pleaseusetheevaluationreportssparingly.The
message"Pleasewaitwhilethereportiscreated.Thiswilltakeafewminutes"isdisplayedwhilethe
softwarecalculatestherequestedstatistics.OtheractionscannotbeperformeduntilDistrictBuilder
finishescreatingthereport.
CompletedReport
Onceareportisgenerated,twochoicesareavailablehowtoviewthesestatistics.
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1. Thestatisticswillappearontheright
handwindowpane.Thescrollbarcan
beusedtoscrollthroughthereport
statisticsandthePrevandNext
buttonscanbeusedtopagethrough
theresultsoftheselectedstatisticsfor
thereport.
2. Anew"Openreportinanewwindow"
buttonappearswhenareportis
generated.Clickingonthisbutton
openstheselectedstatisticsinanew
browserwindow.
Tip:CopyandpastestatisticsintoaspreadsheetprogramsuchasMicrosoft'sExcelbyselectingthe
desiredstatistics,usingthebrowsercopyfunction,andpastingintotheothersoftware.ForExcel,the
statisticswillbenicelyformattedifpastedas"PasteSpecial>UnicodeText".
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TheShareStep
TheStep4.Sharetabofferstoolsthatenableuserstosharetheirworkwithothers.Alluserscanaccess
astaticcopyofasharedplan,sothattheycanviewitandcreatetheirownplansusingitinpartorfull.
Allviewableplansmaybeexportedsothatitcanbeloadedintootherredistrictingsoftware,suchas
thoseusedbyofficialredistrictingauthorities.Finally,planscanbescoredforinclusiononpublicly
viewableleaderboardswhichshowwhichplansscorethebestonstatisticsdefinedbythe
administrators.
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SharingPlans
Toshareacopyofaplanforotherstoviewand
incorporateintotheirownplans,simplygivea
plananewnameandclickthe"SaveandShare"
button.
Thecreatedsharedplanisastaticcopy,meaningthatitcannotbeedited.Thisistoallowotherusersto
noteexactlywhatplantheymayhaveincorporatedintotheirmaps.
Whenaplanisshared,itisvisibletoallotherusers,bothtouserswhohaveestablishedaccountsand
foranonymousGuestusers.
ActionsThatCanBeTakenwithSharedPlans
Whenaplanisshared,alluserswillbeabletoaccesstheplaninthe Step 1: Plan menutomakeacopy
oftheplansothattheymayedititthemselves.Otherusersarealsoabletocopyoneormoredistricts
intotheirplanusingtheCopyandPastefeatureavailableinthe Step 2: Draw tools.
Furthermore,whenaplanisshared,itisgivenauniqueURLthatcanbeusedtopointothersit,suchas
inablogpostoranemail.
Tip:Ifaplan'sURLisforgotten,itcanbelocatedbylogginginasaGuestandviewingthesharedplan.
TheURLgiveninawebbrowseristhepublicURLoftheplan.WhensomeonefollowstheURL,theyare
immediatelypresentedwiththeStep2.Drawtabforthatplan,withlimitedGuestuserfunctionality.
Guestsmayviewtheplan,browseothersharedplans,usetheevaluationtools,andviewthe
leaderboards.
PlanExport
Planscanbeexportedinaformat
commonlyusedbyotherredistricting
softwarebyclickingonthe"RequestFile"
button.Itmaytakeafewminutesto
generatethefileifthisisthefirsttimeitis
requested.
Formoreinformation,pleaseseethe
descriptionofthePlanExportfeaturein
theStep1.Plandocumentation.
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VerifyandPostPlanstoLeaderboards
Leaderboardsrankverifiedplansastohowwelltheyachievecertaincriteriadeterminedbythe
administrators.
PlanVerification
Inorderforaplantobecomparedtootherplans,itmustbeavalidplan."Valid"meanstheplanmust:
1. Assignallgeographytoadistrict.
2. Bewithinpopulationdeviationsfromtheidealsizedpopulationdistrictasdeterminedbythe
administrator.Thesetolerancesarethesameusedtocolordistrictsbytheirpopulation.Aplan
withoutanycoloreddistrictswillpastthisverificationtest.
3. Becontiguous,meaningthatalldistrictsmustbeinternallyconnected.DistrictstatisticsinStep
2.Drawindicateifadistrictisnoncontiguous.
4. ...theadministratorsmayrequireadditionalcriteriaforvalidplans,suchasaminimalnumberof
minorityopportunitydistricts.
Toverifyaplan,clickthe"VerifyandSubmitPlan"button.Itmaytakeafewminutesforthesoftwareto
verifyaplan.Ifaplanisnotverified,anerrormessageisgeneratedexplainingwhichcriteriamayhave
failed.
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Onceaplanisverified,itlosesitsverifiedstatusifanyeditsaremadetoit.
Leaderboards
Leaderboardsallowthecomparisonofverifiedplans.Theadministratordetermineswhichstatisticsto
scoreplanson.Theavailableleaderboardsmaydependoncertaingoalsthatareconstitutionally
requiredbyastateorarepartofacontest.
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Theleaderboardsmayincludeoneormoreofthefollowingcriteria:
1. EqualPopulation.Thisscoreiscalculatedbysubtractingthesmallestpopulationdistrictfrom
thelargestpopulationdistrict.Thebestscoringplanisonewithleastpopulationdeviation.
2. AverageCompactness.Thisscoreiscalculatedbyaveragingthedistrictcompactnessofall
districts.Compactnessmeasuresusuallycompareadistricttoacircle,whichisconsideredthe
mostcompactshape.Thesescorestypicallyvarybetween0and100%,withhighervalues
indicatingamorecompactdistricts.Thus,thebestscoringplanisonewiththehighestaverage
districtcompactnessscore.
3. Competitiveness.Thisscoreiscalculatedbycountingthenumberofdistrictsthatare
"competitive."Thebestscoringplanisonewiththemostcompetitivedistricts.Acompetitive
districtisonewherethereisanearbalanceofDemocraticandRepublicanvoters.The
administratorsdeterminethespecificelection(s)usedtomeasurethepartisancompositionof
districtsandthetolerancerangeofwhatconstitutesacompetitivedistrict.
4. RepresentationalFairness.ThisscoreiscalculatedbysubtractingthenumberofDemocraticor
Republicanmajoritydistricts(whicheverissmaller)fromthenumberofDemocraticor
Republicanmajoritydistricts(whicheverisgreater).Thebestscoringplanisonewiththe
smallestdeviationbetweentheDemocraticandRepublicanmajoritydistricts.The
administratorsdeterminethespecificelection(s)usedtomeasurethepartisancompositionof
districts.Ifaelectionsarenota50/50competitiveoutcome,thepartisancompositionmeasure
maybeshiftedtosimulateahypothetical50/50election.
5. Theadministratorsmaymakeotherstatisticsavailable.
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TopRankedUsers'Plans
Bydefault,leaderboardsshowthetoprankedverifiedplans.Displayedforeachplanisthe:
1. Rankoftheplan.
2. UserNameassociatedwiththeplan.
3. PlanNameiftheplanisasharedplan,ahyperlinkwillbeprovided.
4. Score
MyRankedPlans
Exemplarymapsaredisplayedatthetopoftherankings.Ifanownedplanisnotdisplayed,itsscorecan
beshownbyclickingthe"MyRankedPlans"button.Thisactiondisplaysonlytheverifiedplansowned
byauser.
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